How to Set Up and Use iMessage

iMessage is Apple’s new messaging service that is a combination of both MMS messaging and instant messaging, with the added bonus of sending other iOS 5 users messages at absolute no cost. The service is similar to FaceTime, and that it's free and you can set up an email address to use with the service instead of giving out your phone number. Read on for how to properly set up the service in iOS and a few tips for getting the most out of this free utility.

What You Need:

1. Setting Up iMessage

Setting up iMessage is a rather simple process that begins by simply navigating to Settings > Messages.

Once there, ensure that the iMessage switch is set to ON. You can also turn on Send Read Receipts and Send As SMS. Note that the Send as SMS option will use your cell provider’s network to send the message, which may charge you an SMS fee if you don’t have a unlimited text messaging plan.

After configuring those options, tap on the “Receive At” button to see more iMessage settings. On this page, you will be able to set your active Apple ID. Below that is where you can set email address that others can iMessages. By default, anyone can iMessage your Phone number for free. You can also tap Caller ID to set which email address (or phone number) will appear when you iMessage others.

2. Sending an iMessage

Sending an iMessage is the same as sending an MMS or SMS message on your iPhone before iOS 5. When sending messages, the Send button will be blue if you are sending an iMessage, or green if you are sending a standard SMS/MMS message. The placeholder text will also dictate “iMessage” or “Text Message”.

This is a standard Text Message. Note the green colored Send button.

This is an iMessage. Note the send button is a lovely blue color.

The nice thing about iMessage is that you can see when someone is typing a message because a small bubble will appear with an ellipsis.

3. Sending Attachments with iMessage

You can send attachments (movie or pictures) by tapping on the small Camera button that appears beside the body text field. Tapping on this button will let you choose between taking a picture or video, or selecting a picture or video from your Photo Library.

After adding a picture, tap on the Send button to have the picture whisked away to the recipient.

I understand the purpose of what iMessage is supposed to do, but it just doesn't make sense when you are setting it up and get a message that says "Your carrier may charge for SMS messages used to activate iMessage." iMessage is supposed to be a free service to other iOS devices but yet your carrier may still charge you? Am I the only one confused about that?

…and on another note, I read that you can use iMessage on wifi or 3G… so if you use 3G for it then isn't the cost coming out of your data bucket? .…I didn't know if I was the only one confused about that.

I understand the purpose of what iMessage is supposed to do, but it just doesn't make sense when you are setting it up and get a message that says "Your carrier may charge for SMS messages used to activate iMessage." iMessage is supposed to be a free service to other iOS devices but yet your carrier may still charge you? Am I the only one confused about that?

…and on another note, I read that you can use iMessage on wifi or 3G… so if you use 3G for it then isn't the cost coming out of your data bucket? .…I didn't know if I was the only one confused about that.

Your carrier will only charge you if you have the send as SMS turned on, and it goes through as an SMS instead of iMessage. Second, yes it does come from your data bucket over 3G as it is data being sent. It's basically blackberry messenger for iPhone, except they should have done it with a "pin" for each device versus and email.

There are many issues out there with setting it up. It has worked almost flawlessly for me, but my son's iPod still does not work with it. Every time that he tries to log in, it says that his account is already in use. Which is ridiculous because you can have the same send/receive email address attached to multiple devices.

To elaborate, "Send as SMS" will cause your messages to iMessages users to be sent as text messages if there is no data connection currently available. So if you have a net connection (be it cell or Wifi) you are not sending a text. But if you have a cell connection and no data connection (which happens at the edge of cell tower range sometimes), it will go ahead and send it as a text. It does not sound like this will let you receive the message as a text when you have no data connection, which would mean iMessages replies will not arrive until you have a usable data connection.